The Albert c1862 – Victoria, London

October 21, 2017October 21, 2017Chris and Carol Leave a comment

The Albert – built c1862 and little changed since the beginning. Located at 52 Victoria Street, Victoria, London – September 1987

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Canon F-1 with Canon FD 24mm f/ 2.8 lens on Kodacolor. Thanks to the taxi showing up at the right time to add to the picture.

Thanks for your visit!

Chris

Please respect that all content, including photos and text are property of this blog and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris.

Station (Victoria) Hotel – London 1987

October 21, 2017October 21, 2017Chris and Carol Leave a comment

Super nice B&B back in the day – Vauxhall Bridge Road, Westminster. Just what some tired US Sailors needed after a long day touring.

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Canon F-1 with Canon FD 24mm f/ 2.8 lens on Kodacolor. Yes, the hotel was pink(ish).

Thanks for stopping by!

Chris

Please respect that all content, including photos and text are property of this blog and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris.

Bigger Ben – London 1987

October 21, 2017October 21, 2017Chris and Carol Leave a comment

Forgoing the traditional images of Big Ben, I choose a close-up at 200mm – September 1987

Actually quite an amazing thing of beauty, function and intricate detail. Canon F-1 with Canon FD 80-200mm f/ 4 zoom lens on Kodacolor.

Thanks for stopping by!

Chris

Please respect that all content, including photos and text are property of this blog and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris.

Westminster Abbey – 1987

October 20, 2017October 20, 2017Chris and Carol Leave a comment

Standard tourist image of Westminster Abbey – September 1987

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Canon F-1 with Canon FD 24mm f/ 2.8 lens on Kodacolor.

Thanks for stopping by!

Chris

Please respect that all content, including photos and text are property of this blog and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris.

‘Colorful London’ – 1987

October 20, 2017October 20, 2017Chris and Carol Leave a comment

Beautifully sunny afternoon in London – September 1987

‘Color with no U’

Canon F-1 with Canon FD 24mm f/ 2.8 lens on Kodacolor.

Thanks for stopping by!

Chris

Please respect that all content, including photos and text are property of this blog and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris.

Standing Her Post – London 1987

October 20, 2017October 21, 2017Chris and Carol Leave a comment

Could this same image be taken today?

‘Policewoman, me and Ben’

Canon F-1 with Canon FD 24mm f/ 2.8 on Kodacolor

Thanks for stopping by!

Chris

Please respect that all content, including photos and text are property of this blog and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris.

Diving in Puerto Rico – 1989

September 22, 2017September 22, 2017Chris and Carol 5 Comments

I’ve hardly scanned any of my hundreds of pictures from our time living in Puerto Rico – 1988 to 1991. We lived in a big poured concrete house on top of the highest hill overlooking the Caribbean on the U.S. Naval Base at Roosevelt Roads (Ceiba). Hurricane Hugo (1989) blew out almost all of our windows – we weren’t there as we had evacuated a day before the storm hit. Our belongings were water damaged and our cars were scratched and sandblasted by the fierce winds but we were safe and our cats made it through the storm just fine (interior safe room with plenty of food and water).

We feel for the good people of Puerto Rico. It’s a tough little island and I’m sure they’ll pull through but the recovery will be slow and painful.

Here’s a photo I did find on my PC. It’s me getting ready for a dive at one of our favorite swimming spots on base.

Photo by Carol

Our house is circled in blue with the line underneath. This area was known as Nimitz Drive and was senior enlisted base housing. It looks like the forest (jungle) has taken over.

Large scale view of eastern Puerto Rico. Our house was in the small red circle. We could easily see the island of Vieques from our upstairs windows. The large red circle is where Hurricane Maria made landfall.

Hoping that Puerto Rico can recover quickly.

Chris and Carol

Canon AE-1 Program – An alternative to the more costly A-1

May 4, 2017May 4, 2017Chris and Carol 3 Comments

Canon’s A Series of cameras were among the best in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Often overlooked, the Canon AE-1 Program (it was also available in a pro black body) was a fun and accurate SLR during its heyday. Of course the Canon A-1 and the AE-1 were the most popular of all.

The AE-1 Program, like all of the Canon A Series of bodies, used the Canon FD lenses – here with the popular and super lightweight 50mm f/1.8 lens.

AE-1 Program in pro black and Olympic Edition.

If you get a chance to pick one of these up for a fair price we think you’ll be surprised at how well the auto exposure modes do under challenging lighting situations. It’s not built as robustly as the A-1 but can be had for much less.

The AE-1 P makes a nice addition to any Canon collection and certainly would look good in any collection of early Japanese SLRs.

Thanks for stopping by!

Camera: Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W170

Chris

FIFA World Cup 1986 Canon T50

May 3, 2017May 3, 2017Chris and Carol 5 Comments

Probably not many of these floating around in the U.S. – this was in our collection of ‘all things Canon’ for awhile but has since moved on to another collector. We thought it deserved a spot on the blog if only because few people know of its existence.

The Canon T50 is one of the simplest cameras (35mm SLR) that Canon ever produced. It accepted all Canon FD lenses, took 2 AA batteries, had a power winder built-in and had programmed automation!

Cool logo!

Simple Simon! Shutter button, function dial, hot shoe and rewind lever.

Nice bright graphics!

Bold hand grip and clean design.

If you want a simple, and we mean simple, 35mm SLR film camera to play around with, then the T50 and its cousin the T70 are just the ticket. Both take all of Canon’s FD lenses – and that’s worth the price of admission any day!

Camera: Sony Cyber-shot W170

Chris

I See Red – Fujica DL-20

April 25, 2017April 25, 2017Chris and Carol 1 Comment

Pretty little Fujica DL-20 from 1983.

The world’s first 35mm drop-in loading camera! Simply load your Fujifilm cartridge into the opening on the bottom, close the back – and your Fujica will do the rest!

Features a Fujinon 38mm f/4 lens with built-in lens and viewfinder cover.

Released in March 1983 in Japan, it was also known as the ‘Auto Mate’.

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Original list price in Japan was 30,000 JPY.

Shutter fires from 1/100 to 1/300 of a second.

Also released at the same time the more feature packed DL-100 (Auto Ace).

Solid little thing! Thick plastic everywhere and a bright red finish too!

Manually set ISO settings (100 & 400). 3 zone focusing. Auto exposure (EE).

Built-in electronic flash.

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Push the film cartridge into the opening on the camera’s left side with about 5 cm of film extended – close the back and it auto loads the film.

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Cute centerfold art… love the image on the far right!

Weighs in at 300 g. Fits nicely in your hand (although a bit small for me) and fits in a coat pocket with ease. A simple, compact 35mm point and shoot camera from Fuji Photo Film.

We don’t know if we’re going to shoot the Acros first or load up some bright Fujicolor. Soon we hope!

Camera: Fujifilm FinePix S9900W

Thanks for stopping by!

Chris

Chasing Classic Cameras with Chris

Yashica cameras and so much more!

Tag 1980s

The Albert c1862 – Victoria, London

Station (Victoria) Hotel – London 1987

Bigger Ben – London 1987

Westminster Abbey – 1987

‘Colorful London’ – 1987

Standing Her Post – London 1987

Diving in Puerto Rico – 1989

Canon AE-1 Program – An alternative to the more costly A-1

FIFA World Cup 1986 Canon T50

I See Red – Fujica DL-20